PrepTest 133, Section 1, Question 2
Jocko, a chimpanzee, was once given a large(73 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(10 more words not shown)
- AChimpanzees utter food(8 more words not shown)
- BChimpanzees utter food(10 more words not shown)
- CChimpanzees frequently take(8 more words not shown)
- DEven when they(14 more words not shown)
- EBananas are a(14 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Maybe Jocko learned his lesson: announce the bananas, and the other chimpanzees take them. Staying quiet the next day could be a clever way to keep his food.
But we changed the amount of food too.
The first day he got a large bunch of bananas. The next day he got one. What if a whole bunch is exciting enough to make him bark, while a single banana isn't? Then we could get the same change in behavior without Jocko planning to hide anything.
Keep the observation separate from the zookeeper's explanation. Jocko was quiet on day two; we aren't disputing that. We're questioning why he was quiet. Learning from the theft is one possibility, but the smaller reward gives us another.
What we’re looking for
The question asks us to weaken the zookeeper's conclusion. I'd look for evidence that chimpanzees don't make food barks over such a small amount of food. That would explain the silence without needing the strategy the zookeeper attributes to Jocko.
Working the answers
- A
The food stayed the same: bananas both days. We didn't switch from a favorite food to an unwanted one. A restriction about favorite foods therefore doesn't explain why Jocko barked over the first offering but stayed quiet over the second. The quantity is what changed.
- BCorrect
A sizable quantity is required for food barks. That gives us a reason a large bunch could produce barking while a single banana would not. The silence now has an explanation built into the changed amount of food.
We don't have to prove Jocko learned nothing from the theft. Maybe he did. The problem is that his silence no longer gives us strong evidence of a deliberate plan: we would expect silence over one banana even without that plan.
- C
This concerns why the other chimpanzees took the food. Our question concerns why Jocko stayed quiet afterward. They could have stolen the bananas to assert dominance, and Jocko could still have learned to avoid attracting their attention. C doesn't challenge the explanation of his silence.
- D
This tells us chimpanzees sometimes make apparent signals while alone. Jocko was alone on both occasions, so that general habit doesn't distinguish the two days. It neither explains his new silence nor shows that trying to keep the food was an unlikely reason for it.
- E
Liking bananas is consistent with both stories. Jocko might want to hide food he likes, or he might like one banana without getting as excited as he does over a whole bunch. This doesn't help us choose between those explanations. We need information about the change in behavior, which B supplies.
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